Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT model

The main objective of the study is to ensure the well-being of future generations based on land and water resources. Hydrological modeling is a dependable method that the scientific community can trust for the efficient utilization of these two highly precious resources. Out all the different hydrol...

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Main Authors: Gulja S. Nair, D. Karunanidhi, T. Subramani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Desalination and Water Treatment
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1944398624204859
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author Gulja S. Nair
D. Karunanidhi
T. Subramani
author_facet Gulja S. Nair
D. Karunanidhi
T. Subramani
author_sort Gulja S. Nair
collection DOAJ
description The main objective of the study is to ensure the well-being of future generations based on land and water resources. Hydrological modeling is a dependable method that the scientific community can trust for the efficient utilization of these two highly precious resources. Out all the different hydrological modeling models, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), which is a physically based distributed model, has acquired significant popularity. This study was performed on Bharathapuzha River basin, an intricate river basin located in South India, which passes through the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM), the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) map, and the soil map were utilized to articulate the watershed, which led to the creation of 37 sub-basins and 312 Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) applying a threshold of 5:10:10 for Land Use, Soil, and Slope %, respectively. By utilizing the input of weather data on rainfall and temperature, a simulation was conducted to determine the runoff at the Kuttipuram outlet. The calibration period spanned from 2000 to 2012, whereas the validation phase included the years 2013–2017. Several performance indicators, such as NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency), PBIAS (Percent Bias), and RSR (RMSE-Observations standard deviation ratio), were considered. The values of NSE, PBIAS and RSR for calibration period were found to be 0.6, −10.6 and 0.62, whereas for validation period the same were obtained as 0.54, −13.6 and 0.68, respectively. The findings demonstrate that the calibrated SWAT model is suitable for future investigations in the basin.
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spelling doaj-art-c3fef7a08247476489588060fc68b36d2025-08-20T02:45:56ZengElsevierDesalination and Water Treatment1944-39862025-01-0132110097510.1016/j.dwt.2024.100975Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT modelGulja S. Nair0D. Karunanidhi1T. Subramani2Department of Agricultural Engineering, Nehru Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641105, IndiaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore 641032, India; Corresponding authors.Department of Geology and Department of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering Gundy (CEG), Anna University, Chennai 600025, India; Corresponding authors.The main objective of the study is to ensure the well-being of future generations based on land and water resources. Hydrological modeling is a dependable method that the scientific community can trust for the efficient utilization of these two highly precious resources. Out all the different hydrological modeling models, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), which is a physically based distributed model, has acquired significant popularity. This study was performed on Bharathapuzha River basin, an intricate river basin located in South India, which passes through the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM), the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) map, and the soil map were utilized to articulate the watershed, which led to the creation of 37 sub-basins and 312 Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) applying a threshold of 5:10:10 for Land Use, Soil, and Slope %, respectively. By utilizing the input of weather data on rainfall and temperature, a simulation was conducted to determine the runoff at the Kuttipuram outlet. The calibration period spanned from 2000 to 2012, whereas the validation phase included the years 2013–2017. Several performance indicators, such as NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency), PBIAS (Percent Bias), and RSR (RMSE-Observations standard deviation ratio), were considered. The values of NSE, PBIAS and RSR for calibration period were found to be 0.6, −10.6 and 0.62, whereas for validation period the same were obtained as 0.54, −13.6 and 0.68, respectively. The findings demonstrate that the calibrated SWAT model is suitable for future investigations in the basin.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1944398624204859Hydrological modelingRunoff simulationHydrological Response UnitNSESWAT model
spellingShingle Gulja S. Nair
D. Karunanidhi
T. Subramani
Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT model
Desalination and Water Treatment
Hydrological modeling
Runoff simulation
Hydrological Response Unit
NSE
SWAT model
title Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT model
title_full Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT model
title_fullStr Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT model
title_full_unstemmed Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT model
title_short Hydrological modeling for the Bharathapuzha River basin of South India using SWAT model
title_sort hydrological modeling for the bharathapuzha river basin of south india using swat model
topic Hydrological modeling
Runoff simulation
Hydrological Response Unit
NSE
SWAT model
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1944398624204859
work_keys_str_mv AT guljasnair hydrologicalmodelingforthebharathapuzhariverbasinofsouthindiausingswatmodel
AT dkarunanidhi hydrologicalmodelingforthebharathapuzhariverbasinofsouthindiausingswatmodel
AT tsubramani hydrologicalmodelingforthebharathapuzhariverbasinofsouthindiausingswatmodel